Thermostatically-operated valve-motor.



N0. 642,54. Patented Jan. 30, I900. T. D. PERRY.

THERMOSTATIGALLY OPERATED VALVE MOTOR.

(Application filed Mar. 27, 1897.) (No Model.)

2 Sheets$heet 1.

/ g w M N0. 642,|54. Patented Jan. 30, I900. T. U. PERRY.

THERMOSTATICALLY OPERATED VALVE MOTOR.

(Application filed Mar. 27, 1897.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

I llnTTn STATES PATENT Trice.

THOMAS O. PERRY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

'l'l-lERWlOSTATICALLY-OPERATED VALVE-MOTOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 642,154, dated January 30, 1900.

Application filed March 2 7, 1 8 9 '7.

To all whom it away concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS O. PERRY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ohicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Thermostatically- Operated Valve-Motors, which are fully set forth in the followingspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

, This invention relates to devices adapted to be attached to valves of radiators to operate the same under the control of a thermostat in the apartment heated by the radiator.

It consists of features, set forth in the claims, which are primarily intended and chiefly adapted to make it practicable to employ as the motor fluid compressed air or gas at much lower tension than has heretofore been found necessary in similar devices.

1n the drawings, Figure l is an axial section through a steam-valve body and my improved motor connected therewith. Fig. 2 is a section at the line 2 2 on Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic elevation, partly sectional, designed to indicate the mode of connecting my motor with the thermostat which controls it, the latter being shown in elevation, except as to the air connections, at which the case is broken awayand shown in axial section. Fig.

a is a detail section at the line t 4 on Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a section similar to Fig. 1, but showing the parts in the position occupied when the valve is seated. Fig. 6 is an elevation looking in the direction of the arrow on Fig. 5, showing the pipes in section and one of the posts partly broken away at the lower end.

A is a thermostat, which is represented as of a form which I am accustomed to employ and which is fully illustrated in my application, Serial No. 629,509, filed March 27, 1897, but whose detail construction is immaterial to the present invention, for the understanding of which it is suflicient to state that A is a case of the thermostat, which incloses operating mechanism affected by the expansion and contraction of the cylinder A whose expansion and contraction operate a valve (shown at A) which controls the passage of compressed air from the pipe A which leads from the compressor into the case A and into Serial No. 629,510. (No model.)

and through the pipe A to the chamber C of the motor 13.

The motor .13 comprises the chamber 0, which comprises the upper crown or cap O constituting the upper wall and principal body, and which has the flexible diaphragm C, which is bound at its periphery between said upper wall and the annular portion C of the lower side wall of said chamber, the central aperture 0" in said annular wall C being adapted to be occupied, when the chamber is inflated, by the disk C between which on the lower side of the diaphragm and the disk O on the upper side of the diaphragm the central portion of the diaphragm is clamped by the bolt C which screws into the stem C, which is thereby made to operate as a binding-nut and which protrudes through the central opening 0" of the annular wall 0".

The entire chamber 0 is supported on posts D ,D, which are made fast in a disk E, which has a central aperture and is adapted to be bound fast between the body and cap of the radiator-valve F. The entire device, therefore, is adapted to be applied to any radiatorvalve by securing the plate E in the position shown, a plain unthreaded stem being, however, substituted for the usual threaded stem of the valve and adapted to emerge through the stuffing-box in the customary manner. G is such valve-stem. To its upper end there is pivotally attached a lever II, which is fulcrumed at one end to one of the posts D and connected at the other end by a link Iwith a lever J, which is fulcru med at one end to the other post D and at the other end is pivotally attached to the end of the stem O the parts I and J constituting a toggle-lever connection between the valve-actuatin g lever and the diaphragm. A cross-head or yoke P is suspended by coiled springs K K, engaging the opposite ends of the yoke from the annular lower wall G of the chamber 0, one spring being located on each side of the lever H, and through said lever a tension-screw L is screwed, its lower end entering the yoke at the middle point of its lengththat is, midway between the attachment of the two springsand being there seated with capacity for rotation in its seat. The screw is slotted at the upper end and adapted to be screwed in and out bya screw-driver in the customary manner to put the springs under tension to any desired degree. It will be observed that the entrance of compressed air above the diaphragm C, forcing the latter down to the dotted-line position shown in Fig. 1, will operate through the lever system described toseat the valveM against the pressure of the steam or other heating fiuid entering through the inlet-pipe M, and the proportions of the diaphragm and of the several lever connections are such that for each pound of pressure upon each square inch of the diaphragm a pressure of over forty pounds is exerted upon the valve-stem G. The pressure which produces the closing movement of the valve is exerted also against the tension of the springs K K; but the swinging of the springs about their pivotal attachment at their upper ends to the chamber G, which occurs as the lever H swings downward at its link-conneeted end, and thereby carries the lower end of the screw L and the entire body of the yoke or cross-head P outward that is, away from the stem G-causes that pressure to operate on the lever H at a point nearer its fulcrum and therefore with less effect to resist the pressure of the motor fluid on the diaphragm. The strain of the springs may be taken off the thread of the screw L so far as that strain is lateral and might tend to bend the screw or cause it to become shaky in the thread which it engages on the lever by extending the two side bars I-I H of the lever downward in brackets, as seen in Fig. 1 at H", said extensions H having the edge H parallel to the axis of the screw L and bearing against the right-hand side of the yoke or cross-head P at opposite sides of the plane containing the axis of the screw and the axis of the valve-stem. These bracket-like extensions H of the lever H thus check any tendency of the yoke to rotate when the screw is rotated to adjust the tension of the springs and also guide the vertical movement of the yoke as such movement is produced in the action of the device by and against the tension of the springs, and in order to make this guidance more effectual I form rabbet-seats at P on the right-hand side of the cross-head for the straight edges 11" of the extensions H The multiplication of pressure from the diaphragm to the valve-stem in the small space afforded and by the parts employed is due to the special arrangement of these parts, which will now be pointed out. When the closing movement of the valve commences, it will be understood that the valve will be exposed to substantially equal pressure on both sides, a slightly-greater pressure tending to open it being due to the impetus or momentum of the steam which is entering underneath it; but as it approaches its seat and the steam-entrance is very materially restricted the pressure increases, and when it finally reaches its seat the full steam-pressure in the pipe is experienced, with a tendenoy to unseat it. Mechanism for closing the valve, therefore, in order to be operated by the minimum pressure on the motor diaphragm should be arranged with reference to this increasing resistance to the closing of the valve, and if adequate, with the leverage afforded at the end of the movement, to hold the valve seated against the maximum steampressure in the pipe the mechanism may be such that during the early portion of the closing movement the force experienced by the valve-stem shall be sufficient to overcome the friction in the stuffing-box and only a slight additional force due to the momentum of the steam, distance of travel toward the seat, rather than force in its movement, being obtained at this part of the closing action. This result-that is, comparatively rapid movement toward the seat without more than the necessary force to overcome the resistance in the stufling-box at the first part of the movement and relatively great force through short travel at the latter part of the movementis obtained by the construction described. The lever H, it will be observed, is calculated to oscillate from a position a short distance above a horizontal line-that is, a line at right angles to the valve-stem-to a position at an equal distance below said line while moving the valve from its widest-open to its completely-closed position, and the pivot of said lever to the link I is in line with the fulcrum of the lever and its pivotal attachment to the valve-stem. In this movement the paths of both saidpivotal connections, therefore, are substantially vertical, that of the pivotal connection to the valve beginning and ending at the line of the axis of the stem, departing from that line almost imperceptibly in following the curved path. The lever J also, it will be observed, during the same travel oscillates from a point above to a point an equal distance below a horizontal line through its fulcrum. The leverage afforded by the lever H upon the valve-stem is therefore substantially equal throughout the entire oscillation. The pivotal connection of the lever J to the link I, however, it will be observed, is widely out of line with the fulcrum of said lever and its pivotal connection to the diaphragm-stem, so that while the latter connection travels in a nearly-vertical path the pivot of the lever to the link travels in a path which, commencing at a point about thirty degrees below the horizontal line through the fulcrum of the lever, ends at a point within about thirty degrees of a vertical line through said fulcrum, its downward travel therefore being very much less than its travel measures along its path of movement, said downward travel, nevertheless, being the proper measure of its action upon the lever 11. Furthermore, the link I at the commencement of the movement stands inclined from its pivotal connection to the lever H about thirty degrees from the horizontal, and as the lever J swings downward the link swinging upward approaches rapidly a vertical position and at the end of the movement stands substantially vertical and only a few degrees out of line with the fulcrum of the lever J and its own pivotal connection to said lever. From this relation of the parts it results that at the commencement of the closing movement the downward action upon the lever II is measured approximately by the separation effected between the fulcrum of the lever J and the pivotal connection of the link I to the lever II, which is relatively rapid, causing relatively-extended movement, with relatively small force, to be given to the lever II, and thereby to the valvestem, but that the rate of movement diminishing and the force of movement rapidly decreasing toward the close as the link comes nearly in line with the fulcrum of the lever J, when the valve is finally seated, as above stated, the force with which it is held on its seat is equivalent to about forty pounds for every pound of pressure of the motor fluid on the diaphragm. The springs K K are designed to start the valve off its seat, so that with low pressure of steam, which might not be sufficient to overcome the friction of the stuffing-box, the valve may be opened properly when the motondiaphragm is relieved from the pressure of the motor fluid, and it is desirable, therefore, that said springs while serving this purpose should cause the least possible addition to the force necessary to seat the valve, especially at the time when the maximum power is required for that purpose-that is, toward the close'of this seating movementand it is with a view to this that the springs are so connected that, as above described, they swing toward the fulcrum of the lever H, and thereby offer diminishing resistance to the closing movement as the end of that movement approaches. The specific construction described also facilitates assembling and disassembling, preventing the springs from beinga hindrance to the process, because they may be put in place without tension, the tension being obtained afterward by advancing the screw L down through the lever II, carrying the yoke or cross-head P downward to the extent necessary to produce the desired tension. It will be understood thatin assembling, commencing with the disk E, the parts last in place will be the diapl1ragm,with its clamping disks and stem and the upper cap C so that the screwL will be accessible for the purpose described after all the parts to which it is secured are assembled.

It will be understood that the chamber C has a properly-restricted vent, the particular form of which is immaterial, which, as shown in the drawings, is obtained through the brass plug A in the T A which is set in the pipe A through which the motor-fluid pressure reaches the motoachamber.

I claim- 1. In combination with the valve and the motor for the same, two levers having their fnlcrums fixed with respect to the valve-bod y and pivotally connected. respectively to the valve-stem and the moving element of the motor, adapted in the movements of said parts to which they are respectively connected to oscillate through arcs whose chords are substantially parallel with the paths of movement of said moving parts respectively; and a link which connects said levers having its pivotal con nection to the motor-operated lever Widely out of line with the other pivots of said lever.

2. In combination with the valve and the motor which operates the same, levers having their fulcrums fixed with respect to the valvebody and connected respectively to the valvestem and to the moving element of the motor and adapted by said connections to oscillate in arcs whose chords are substantially parallel to the paths of movement of the valvestem and motor element respectively; a link which connects said levers at points in a line which makes an increasing angle with a line from the fulcrum of the motor-operated lever to the link-pivot on said lever as the valve moves toward its seat and approximates one hundred and eighty degrees when the valve is seated.

3. In combination with the valve-body, the valve and the cap through which the valvestem emerges, the base-plate E, adapted to be bound between the valve-body and its cap, the motor-chamber O, and the posts D D, which attach it to the plate; the levers H and J fulcrumed on the posts respectively, and connected respectively to the valve-stem and the moving element of the motor; and the link I which connects said levers.

4. In combination with a valve which controls the flow of the heating or heat-producing fluid and a motor for operating said valve, the operating connections between the motor and valve comprising a lever attached to the valve-stem; a spring reacting upon said lever to resist the closing of the valve; the connection of the spring to the lever being made by attachment thereto at a point remote from a line extended from the lever-fulcrum to its valve'stem connection on the side of the lever toward the valve-body, and on the side of the valve-stem toward the lever-fulcrum.

5. In combination with a valve which controls the How of the heating or heat-producing fluid, a motor for operating said valve, the operating connections between the motor and valve comprising a lever connected to the valve-stem; a spring pivoted at one end and operating at the otherend upon said lever to resist the closing of the valve; the connection of the spring to the lever being made by attachment thereto at a point remote from a line between its'fulcrum and valve-stem connection on the side of the lever toward the valve-body and on the side of the valve stem toward the lever-fulcrum.

6. In combination with a valve which controls the flow of the heating or heat-producing fluid, a motor for operating said valve; the operating connections between the motor and valve comprising a lever connected to the valve-stem; a spring operating upon said lever to resist the closing of the valve, the connection of the spring to the lever being made by attachment at a point remote from the line extending from the lever-fulcrum to its valve-stem connection on the side of the lever toward the valve-body and on the side of the valve-stem toward the lever-fulcrum, the other end of the spring being pivotally attached at a point fixed with respect to the body; whereby the angle between the lines from the pivotal attachment of the spring to the fulcrum of the lever and t0 the opposite connection of the spring, respectively, and the tendency of the spring to resist the closing of the valve, diminish as the valve approaches its seat.

7. In combination with the valve and motor I and the lever connections between the two,

the springs K K which operate with a tend ency to unseat the valve, said springs being secured at the upper end, and the cross-head P to which the lowerends of said springs are connected, and the screw L, which is screwed through the valve-operating lever and takes into the cross-head, whereby the springs may be put undertension and their tension regulated after assembling the parts.

8. In combination with a valve and motor and the lever connections between the springs K K, which operate with a tendency to unseat the valve, the cross-head P and a screw L screwed into the lever and taking into the cross-head to put the springs under tension; the lever having the brackets extending downwardly therefrom at opposite sides of the screw and having their edges toward the crosshead parallel with the axis of the screw.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of two witnesses, at Chicago, Illinois, this 24th day of March, 1897.

THOMAS O. PERRY.

Witnesses:

JEAN ELLIOTT, E. Tl. TRAY. 

